For much of the past decade, oil and gas pipelines have been among the most divisive political symbols in Canada. They have represented not just energy infrastructure, but a deeper clash between economic ambition and environmental responsibility. Now, new Ipsos polling suggests something important has shifted in the national mood.
A clear majority of Canadians appear ready to support expanded oil and gas development including pipelines not because environmental concerns have vanished, but because economic realities have become impossible to ignore.
According to the Ipsos poll conducted for Global News, more than eight in 10 Canadians agree that Canada should expand oil and gas exports beyond the United States in response to the ongoing trade war and U.S. tariffs. That level of consensus would have been almost unthinkable during previous pipeline battles under Stephen Harper or Justin Trudeau. Yet today, the public conversation feels markedly different.
The trade war has forced Canadians to confront a long-standing vulnerability: overreliance on the U.S. as an energy customer. In that context, pipelines are no longer viewed solely as environmental threats, but as strategic tools ways to protect national economic security, diversify exports and reduce leverage held by a single trading partner.
Still, support is not unconditional. While 68 per cent of Canadians back building a new pipeline to British Columbia’s northern coast, even more 72 per cent prefer expanding existing infrastructure first. That distinction matters. Canadians are signaling that they want practical, lower-risk solutions before embarking on politically and environmentally contentious megaprojects.
Regionally, the story becomes even more nuanced. Alberta stands alone in its strong enthusiasm for building a new pipeline, reflecting both economic dependence on energy and long-standing frustration with stalled projects. Elsewhere, support is more cautious. Quebec and Ontario, in particular, remain skeptical of new pipelines, even while endorsing capacity expansion of existing ones. This suggests that opposition has softened, but has not disappeared.
What’s especially striking is how environmental concern now coexists with economic pragmatism. Nearly 60 per cent of Canadians say they are worried about rising greenhouse gas emissions from expanded oil and gas projects yet many of these same respondents still support moving forward. This is not climate denial; it is compromise. Faced with economic uncertainty, Canadians appear willing to temporarily lower climate priorities in exchange for stability, jobs and export resilience.
As Ipsos CEO Darrell Bricker notes, this may be the most favorable public opinion environment for oil and gas infrastructure in decades. Climate change, once the dominant lens for energy debates, has slipped down the list as trade pressures and economic anxiety rise to the top.
For Prime Minister Mark Carney, this presents both an opportunity and a warning. Canadians are open to pipelines but only if they are done carefully, transparently and with clear economic justification. Rushing ahead without addressing environmental safeguards or regional concerns could quickly erode this fragile consensus.
The message from the public is not “build at any cost.” It is “build wisely.” Canada’s energy future, it seems, will be shaped less by ideology and more by necessity a sign of a country adjusting, pragmatically, to a harsher global reality.
